Cats - Paris Cast Recording
I loved the Hamburg cast recording and for ages thought that it gave
the best and most accurate representation of both the score and the
show. However, I was thrilled to find that the 1989 Paris recording
surpassed even that excellent album in nearly every way. Firstly
this is because of the sound quality of the music, the Cats
orchestrations have a very distinctive, almost hallucinogenic, sound
in live performance but I've never felt that this was re-created on
any of the recordings, especially in the English language versions.
The French disc on the other hand manages to fully capture the
acoustic quality of the score as it is heard in the theatre, even
more so than the live Hamburg version. I feel that most of the other
recordings tend to sound very soft and spongy and make the music
appear as if it's children's cartoon music, this recording is much
sharper, darker and more sensual and has a much more defined feel to
it, it sounds like serious music. It is also the only recording to
really make the score sound like a score, rather than just a
collection of tunes. If the other recordings sound quite contained,
this one sounds expansive, as though it was recorded in a wide-open
space. Cameron Mackintosh once said 'you can tell people about this
[the show], but no one can explain the experience of Cats' and
that's true I think. None-the-less I believe that of all the
recordings, this one goes farthest towards effectively communicating
the aura of the show as you would experience it live. This is
intensified by the fact that this is by far and away the most
comprehensive of all the albums. With the exception of the Gumbie
Cat's dance, which is still only featured in the standard edited
version found on the other recordings, the album is virtually
complete. It contains, for example, the full Mistoffelees dance,
which is not included on any of the other recordings and is only
featured in the video in a very edited form. It even contains little
sequences such as the police sirens and Macavity cords which precedes
Mungojerry and Rumpleteazer's entrance, which are absent from the
other albums. The singers too are mainly excellent. Gay Marshall's
Grizabella is a lot quieter and more internalised than most. It must
have been a sorrowful, moving performance to watch but does not sound
quite distressed enough to really work fully on record. Laure Balon
and Cristina Grimandi, as Demeter and Bombalurina, are a bit below
par during Macavity, but otherwise the company are great. Matthew
Jessner makes an amazing Munkustrap, the best I have ever heard on
record and Frederic Norbert is an excellent Tugger (Rocky
Tam Tam).
This recording contains stunning versions of the big set pieces
Pekes and the Pollicles and Growltiger and by far the best Jellicle
Ball you will ever hear. It is so sinewy and sensitive and layered
that even the version on the Hamburg recording sounds clompy and
heavy in comparison.
Although the French translation did receive some criticism at the
time, I like it a lot. Admittedly my French is not great, but I
imagine that for many non-French listeners like myself, it is the
sound and feel of the language, rather than the actual words that is
important. In this respect, it is wonderful; it sounds smooth and
sensitive to the rhythms of the music and the emotional nature of the
scene or song, if you already know the text in English (or whatever
your native language is) then I can't see how the language would
stunt your enjoyment of the recording in any way. In all I think
that this is an absolute must for all serious Cats fans (if you
can actually find a copy any more), quite apart from the fact that it
contains several sections which have never been fully recorded
before, it will also allow you to re-discover the sequences you do
know, to hear them again with fresh ears. It really made me re-
evaluate the music of Cats and made me feel even more passionate
about it. This is my favourite recording of Cats and possibly my
favourite ALW album (along with the Australian Starlight
Express album - another superior and unfortunately little known
recording of an overly derided score - and the superb Canadian Sunset
Boulevard album).
- Stephen